Eric Sophie, 40, of Jersey City, who describes himself as "Legomaster'' on his Myspace page, has been charged with fondling two 5-year-old girls and an 8-year-old girl.

A Jersey City man who ran an afterschool LEGOs-oriented activity for children has been charged with fondling three girls in Jersey City and Hoboken, officials said today.

Eric Sophie, 40, of Newport Parkway, is accused of molesting two 5-year-olds and an 8-year-old, Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor John Mulkeen told The Jersey Journal this afternoon.

Sophie was arrested Wednesday on three counts each of sexual assault by contact, child abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, he said.

Sophie, who calls himself a "Legomaster" on Myspace.com, ran the afterschool program at the Ethical Community Charter School on Broadway in Jersey City.

The Jersey Journal learned of the matter after the school sent a letter to parents saying the person who led the LEGO program had been arrested. The letter said more information was available by calling the principal or the Hudson County Prosecutor's Special Victims Unit.

"The accused person has been relieved of his duties pending a criminal investigation," Principal Marta Bergamini said today. "We cannot comment further under state law at this time."

But Bergamini noted that the school is "cooperating fully with all authorities.''

She added: "The school takes the safety of all their children very seriously and we did a full background check on this employee and he was clean."

Sophie's intricate, complex and often large LEGO creations have been exhibited in Liberty State Park, as part of the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour, in the Newport Town Square near his home, at the New Jersey Science and Engineering Festival in Clifton, on the "Good Day, New York" television program, on the LEGO website and at numerous other venues.

A listing for him on the Hoboken Family Alliance's Birthday Party Idea page offers: "Eric Sophie will come to your party and build a Lego phenom with your party guest."

Mulkeen, who heads the Prosecutor's Office's Special Victims Unit, said Sophie was transported to the Hudson County jail in Kearny yesterday and he is being held in lieu of $200,000 cash or bond bail.

The investigation, Mulkeen said, is very active. No further information will be released at this time, he said.